Pressed for Time

This is going to annoy some people, and I know that because I have a well-developed sense of when I’m being annoying. But that isn’t what I’m worried about. My fear is that I’ll sound ungrateful, like I’m some insanely wealthy person whining about not having enough room for all of his money. The thing is, I am grateful. And I realize that the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience. It’s just that my wrists are going to fall off and my eyes feel as though I’ve been staring directly into the sun for about a week and a half.

But I’ve already gotten ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.

My blog was Freshly Pressed on October 13. I had told a friend that very morning that I had already been selected for the WordPress front page back in April, so the chances of my getting it again were nearly zero. It was just probability. There are more than four hundred thousand blogs. Twelve of those — one dozen — are featured every two or three days. That comes out to about fourteen hundred blogs in a year, out of four hundred thousand. Not good odds.

A few hours later, my Inbox began to fill with comments and subscribers. It had happened: I was Freshly Pressed again.

It was a Thursday. I answered the comments as quickly as I could, while also exploring many of the senders’ blogs, and leaving them feedback. I thought it would last until Saturday. On Sunday, all twelve of us were still there on the Freshly Pressed page. “I’m sure it’ll be over by Monday morning,” I thought. “Something called Freshly Pressed has to have an expiration date.” But Monday came and went; so did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Freshly Pressed for an entire week? Something was up. They never leave it stagnant for so long. Meanwhile, the comments came in faster than I could respond. I also noticed that the more comments there were, the longer it took to answer each one. With a few dozen visitors, I can reply and the page refreshes in about five seconds. But with hundreds, it’s like trying to add plates to the middle of a stack that’s as tall as an apartment building. Every comment made the stack taller, and therefore heavier to lift in order to slip a reply into the middle somewhere. Once typed, each response was taking almost a full minute to upload.

Then it was Friday. And then Saturday. It’s now been ten days, and the comments continue to arrive. Almost all have been sincere, supportive, and wonderfully thoughtful. A few have been blatant marketing attempts. Two or three others have been completely incomprehensible. Okay, five or six. One consisted entirely of a couple of dots. Or it may have been a single dot and a period.

Another friend told me this could go on until October 29. I don’t know how she knows this, and I’m hoping her ability to foretell the future is as pathetic as mine.

How do I handle this ongoing honor? Not long ago, it would have seemed like a fantasy situation — a continual flow of readers, commenters, and subscribers. But it also began to feel like cheating, like getting cable without paying for it. Then I remembered that three people had given me the Versatile Blogger Award in the past few weeks. The idea, in case you don’t know, is to tell some things about yourself, acknowledge the person who nominated you, and pass the award along to a number of other writers. I’ve done this before. I think everyone listed on my blogroll has received this award, and others, at least once.

But now, in the past ten days, I’ve met hundreds of bloggers. Not surprisingly, many of them are excellent writers, photographers, and artists whose blogs are a treat to visit. The thought also occurred to me that I’ve been talking a lot lately about how much our society gushes over a handful of celebrities, and how out-of-balance it all seems. Everyone needs to be paid attention to, at some point and by somebody. I’ve suddenly had more than my share. And so I’d like to divert that attention toward a few of the many friends I’ve made, whose blogs may be brand new, or have, for whatever reason, gone largely unnoticed. Hearing from just a few unexpected readers could make the difference for someone — the difference between giving up and hanging in there.

Thank you to Kavya, Punit, and Charly Walker for the Versatile Blogger Award. I was sorry it took me so long to do something with it, but now I’m glad I waited.

First, here’s some useless information about me:

1. I recently discovered that when I’m taking a shower, if I stick my finger into my ear and pull it out quickly, I get dizzy for a second. I don’t know how I could have lived so long without realizing this sooner.

2. Every time I go to a restaurant and see turnips on the menu, I’m shocked all over again.

3. I own more books than I will ever have time for. I frequently buy the same book twice, and sometimes don’t realize it until months or years later. I secretly wish to be put under house arrest, and ordered to read.

4. There’s a tiny part of my brain that knows exactly what my spleen is supposed to do, and the rest of it has no idea. I try not to dwell on things like that.

5. At fifty-six, I’m ready to accept the possibility that I may never be a major league baseball player. I’m okay with this; I just don’t know what to do with the Hall of Fame induction speech I’ve been rehearsing since 1967.

6. I think the local radio station plays too many Elton John songs.

7. I don’t really believe in reincarnation, yet I have this unexplainable feeling that I died in the American Civil War. I wasn’t killed in battle. I was a cook on the Union side, and was shot dead by my own men.

Here are a few of the blogs I’ve discovered over the past week and a half. Please know that for each one listed here, I could have named ten more. Also, I’m going to be answering comments on my Freshly Pressed post for the rest of my natural life. If you decide to leave a comment on one of these other blogs, rather than here, that would be fine with me.

Next Stop
Dounia writes about being a “third culture kid.” Great photographs, too.

Rootgilmore’s Blog
Joseph creates incredible stories, and has been doing so for a long time.

* * * * *

One more thing. A lot of people have been asking about the cartoons on my blog. I wish I could say I draw them myself, but I’ve lied enough about other things. The original artwork is done by a cartoonist named Ron Leishman. I modify them by adding captions and dialogue, but it’s the incredible selection of his work that makes it easy to create images for my posts. You can see more of Ron’s brilliance on his website.

It is easy to see why you were chosen for this honor, you are truly a joy to read.

Some might say it is random chance or the luck of the draw. But talent has to stand for some of it. I have been at this since 2008 and never received anything … nada …. zip …. period.

But that is not why I do it, and if it is to happen, it most likely will … someday.

I can see where answering all the comments would overwhelm a person, every now and then I hit one outta the park, and the comments section wlll heat up, and it can get kind of hairy for awhile. But nothing like what you are currently going thru.

I don’t wanna be another blogger, spamming your comments inbox, but I felt the urge to leave a remark…;) I’d read your original FP post – the cartoons really caught my eye 🙂 and that one, as this recent one, are still very funny! Congrats, and don’t worry, you’re not “cheating”… Something has happened to WP, I remember reading some tweet about oct 26… Who knows?? We just have to wait and see… I thought I was having some problem with my blog, due to lack of storage space – purchased more, got a bunch of photos, my fault, ‘mea culpa’… 😉 And in a way, your post brought me peace of mind, since now I now others have experienced the same “lag phase”… congrats again on been freshly pressed! I wished that’d also happened back in June, when I got to see my hybrid-culture kids on the front page of WP… It only lasted 24hrs, but great incentive to keep the inspiration going! Cheers from Brazil, Raquel.

Just remember, there’s no law that says you have to reply to EVERY post, or visit EVERY blog. Just mine. Seriously though, love the blog as usual … someone at WordPress must have fallen asleep at the switch 😉

As one of your newer subscribers I must say that when I post a comment, it is not by any stretch of the imagination to receive your attention or to direct your (or your other subscribers) eyes my way. That would be like clapping at a concert and expecting it to result in the performer coming straight to you and inviting you to dinner. Flashing your breasts at a professional sporting event, just so you can be seen on tv… Ok, that one might be different. Demanding your undivided attention because someone posts a 3 or 4 sentence “brain-dropping” on your well thought out and often hilarious posts is just rude.
My comments for any blogger are simply to show my appreciation for their talent, perspective and sense of humor.

Cut yourself some slack. You deserve Freshly Pressed because you are talented. That being said, you’re no Paris Hilton. We (I’m speaking for the multitudes here) do not expect a constant flow of rehab and jail dramas and upskirt paparazzi shots.

That’s why I said that most of the comments have been sincere, supportive, and thoughtful. It’s been just a few that were clearly sent as a way to sell something, or get people to click over to their blogs, or I don’t know what. Thank you, pobrandy, for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate it.

I agree with Kroessman. No need to respond to EVERYTHING, but it’s nice that you tried. If I had hundreds of people responding on my bloggy thing, I’d be elated, exasperated and then hiding in a corner somewhere. 🙂 Congrats on being Freshly Pressed and where the heck are you eating that they serve TURNIPS?

I was using turnips in a symbolic way, to represent foods I couldn’t imagine eating for free, never mind paying for them at a restaurant. I was with a friend once and he ordered tripe. Do you know what tripe is? It’s the lining of a sheep’s stomach. I even tried a little. It was exactly like eating a catcher’s mitt, only chewier. I became a vegetarian shortly after that.

I saw the 600 and something comments on one of your posts and at first thought the spammers hit you. I soon realized they were legit comments. Charles, you should be freshly pressed every week 🙂 Now you know why celebrities have to hire people to read their mail and maintain their social networking sites. 😉 If anyone deserves to be overwhelmed, it’s you. I think we all wish we had your gift with words. So much for boring, huh? Way to go!! If you need a ghost comment answerer, I’m available all day Sunday 🙂

I’d say that you deserve your tremendous blog success, but considering your stress level, that might sound more like an imprecation than a compliment (not my intent at all).

You’re a joy to read, and I’m sure I speak for your many fans when I say we’ll understand if you don’t have time to respond to every comment. The dialogue has been lovely, but your sanity is more important. After all, if you’re locked up in an asylum, we won’t get any more Mostly Bright Ideas! 🙂

Charles, this is no surprise. You have a fabulous sense of humour and a great ability to put it out here. Bravo. This makes me doubly happy because it’s proof that those who decide who is Fresh Pressed make good choices.

Towards the bottom is a post that says the following:
“I just noticed on the Support page this short message, ‘Support is closed while the company meets up and works together for the next week. We will be back on October 29th.’
Maybe this is the reason for no FreshlyPressed updates.”

So if that does have any merit, it may be the 29th (or maybe 30th) before it gets changed.

Last night I couldn’t sleep, tossed and turned and even got a cramp in my foot wondering if someone like myself should be blogging at all. Doubts sped through my mind like cruel marathon runners (why is my uncertainty so damned sexy, so fit?). I considered ways I could condense my “long” stories into list form, thought about the treatment of sorrow, how to make it funnier, stickier, wondered if WP was going to ruin me, asked The Little Prince forgiveness. Your visiting my blog, your thoughtful comments about my posts, were just what I needed to keep fighting this war. You are my hero tonight. You are a lot of people’s hero. Rest well.

Your writing deserves a lot more attention, and I believe it will happen. Just keep doing what you’re doing. My only suggestion would be to break up long posts into two or three parts. You can write the whole thing at once, then divide it up. That way you’ll have the follow-up posts ready to go and you can publish them in planned time intervals. People may see the length, decide to come back when they have more time to read it all, then forget to return.

the freshly pressed tag was so well deserved. and this post attests to the fact.
I am now off to checking the blogs you have mentioned. And do keep writing as brilliantly as ever.
56 is quite the right time to realise the baseball thing. Your mention of the hall of fame speech is so funny!

Thanks, PC. I turned 56 today, and you’re right: I’m going to make the official announcement this afternoon. I’ve decided not to pursue a career in baseball. It’s a relief, really, after all these years.

If you do not deserve freshly pressed, then I hope no one else deserve it. You are such a wonderful writer that, you do not need any image of scenic beauty, animals, buildings etc. to get the freshly pressed tag. I know it will be fool of mine if i will say, i also try the same in my blog to concentrate on writing other than anything else. But i really do, And I am waiting for my day to be freshly pressed, then slightly stressed & lastly fairly depressed as per your post. I know i am asking for too much. But i am having a feeling that this post of yours is again going to be in freshly pressed. And you have to again go through those three phases you mentioned!!

I have a confession, a few of those incomprehensible comments were from me.

I am relieved you posted this because I was beginning to get worried about you. Your first cartoon is exactly what I pictured. Just make sure you stay hydrated and eat and sleep once in awhile. But you know that if any blog could handle being up there for an eternity, it would be yours. Well deserved, Charles! I think now that you have such a large audience, now would be a good time to post your baseball Hall of Fame speech.

This Freshly Pressed gig is just a warm-up to when your literary agent tells you a major publishing house is buying the rights to your book and that Pixar wants to make an animated movie using Ron’s cartoons. You’ll need to go on press junkets then, so consider this stress as a test to your future abilities to fend off Entertainment Tonight and TMZ.

Take a bow – you richly deserve all the accolades, even if WP left you out there to hang for so long. Love all the other blog links. I’ve found I could do nothing all day but click links to all the amazing writers out there.

I was wondering about the “Freshly, now turned stale Pressed” articles on the WordPress homepage and am glad there is some rhyme and reason behind the reason it hasn’t changed for weeks now. Anyway, what do you expect Charles? You’re a fabulous writer! Your blog has in some ways replaced the morning paper for me, and I’m sure for a lot of others as well. Why read about all the death, corruption, and politics every morning when you can come here (and all the other great writers’ blogs) and read about real-world experiences with a comedic or unique twist! I wanted to respect your request and not comment but I couldn’t help myself…especially after I read through your list of the various blogs you have visited as a result of your “fame” and saw my blog (My Haphazard Proclivities) listed there. Thank you so much for the shout out!

Ever since you listed my blog in this post, I have seen increased traffic on my site and as a result, have been able to connect with more fellow bloggers like you mentioned.

I can’t thank you enough. Before your post, I had two subscribers; now I have six and counting. Nothing compared to your thousands but it’s because of people like you that new, unnoticed blogs get the attention they do.

I hesitate to add to the tumult, Charles, but I do want to thank you. Yes, you deserve the attention, the praise, the acknowledgment of your talent, your craftsmanship, and your kindness and generosity in sharing those gifts. Most of all, with this post and others, you’ve given me laughter, like a friend. Maybe that’s one of the things the masses of your readership recognize. You reach out and touch so many of us on a personal level, one on one. And you know how important that is; it’s inherent in your writing. And so obvious in your desire to respond personally to our comments. You are like a good friend to us. In keeping with that, we will forgive you if you don’t respond to all of our messages, return all our calls or texts. Sometimes even best friends can get a little annoying.

A heartfelt “Thank You” for mentioning my blog, it means so much to me! (I know, corny, but true!) I hope you know I appreciate all your comments & advice. I’m anxious to read the others you recommended.
Also, your friend is correct – I clicked on the “Help” button over the weekend and found a blurb stating basically that staff was out of the office until Oct 29th. So find a great pair of sunglasses, you have afew days of spotlight left, Enjoy! I somehow doubt that your blog being “stuck” on the front page was by accident. Ironic that the internet would actually lenghten the “15 minutes of fame”. Thank you !

I thought I would pop over to your blog to see what insightful and humorous thoughts you shared today, and I was met with the biggest and loveliest of surprises when I saw you mentioned my blog! I wanted to thank you for such an honor and kind gesture – it truly means a lot to me, especially as a new blogger and more importantly coming from such a talented writer. I really enjoyed this post very much, and I look forward to reading more in the future. Good luck responding to all your comments; it says a lot about you as a person that you take the time to give everyone equal attention, even when your attention is split into lots and lots of pieces! Thank you again for making my day start with a big smile and a happy boost of energy!

I guess it’s like being chosen as George Clooney’s girlfriend. It’s something that everyone wants but you can’t get mad at the lucky lady. Realizing you are a male, I was trying to think of the single-female counter-part, but had no luck so use your imagination! Bottom line, how fun! Congratulations.

Read this new blog post and, again, you are an amazing writer. Your style is (I can now say from multiple experiences) ALWAYS engaging, entertaining and relatable. A huge thank you for featuring my name in this entry; I saw my site stats today and almost yelled “WHATTT? Was I like undeservingly, amazingly and accidentally Freshly Pressed over the weekend?”

Anyways, sincerely, thank you. Best wishes to you always.. I’ll be staying tuned.

Well, Charles, I almost feel guilty leaving you another comment among all these comments, but I’ll do it anyway since I haven’t been able to leave one for the last few weeks. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed–again! It’s well deserved. Now, all we need to do is get you a TV ad gig. Everytime I see the Not Without Salt blogger with her own TV commercial, I think of you and wonder, “Why isn’t Charles hawking some product on TV?” On another note, how’s the kitten? Do you need to ship her to me soon?

I totally relate. I fully understand you. Yes, it would seem a dream to have all these readers, subscribers, but it’s quite a lot to deal with. I don’t know about you but I work 9 to 5 and have duties to a son, so WordPress has to fit into my life, not vice-versa. I’d undeniably love more consideration of what I’m writing, sharing, giving, but OMG hundreds of comments!!!

I got the versatile blog award too – I found it quite onerous! No, I get ya.

Congrats on being freshly pressed twice though – that’s awesome. You must be the kind who wins lotto, despite any odds 🙂

Hey Charles – I was wondering about those cartoons, so thanks for clearing that up! Also, your my mom’s age, which is cool, because my mom is cool. Also, I was totally reading your blog before it got Freshly Pressed for the second time (so I’m cool and hipster :P).

Have fun answering comments! As long as there’s a part of you that appreciates all the attention as well, I don’t mind you complaining a bit :).

I apprectiate the mention on your blog! (I was wondering why my traffic increased) I will continue to read, like and comment on your blog because I love your work. Whether or not you have five followers or five hundred followers, WordPress is a creative outlet and it should be used as such no matter how much attention you get (or don’t), and I agree, everyone deserves to have a light shined on their blog every once in awhile. Best Wishes 🙂

The first thing I did this morning was look at Freshly Pressed, and I noticed that new ones were trickling in…but alas yours remained. For a minute I felt sorry for you, but then I laughed. Out loud. So funny that you just can’t shake the FP!!!

“Something called Freshly Pressed has to have an expiration date.”
Is the milk curdling? Too funny, Charles.
For the record, I love it when you share ‘useless’ information about yourself. Always entertaining, you are.

Well gee Charles, now I feel guilty leaving you another comment. Sorry 😉 You may be interested to know that I’ve discovered why your blog and others have remained unfreshly pressed for 10 days or more. The answer is on my blog today. It won’t help you stave off your indenturedness to answering comments, but at least you’ll know why.

Charles, quite apart from your extremely enjoyable writing, I suspect you have garnered many loyal followers by taking the time to respond to and engage with as many readers as you do. I’m pretty new to WordPress and blogging in general; I only pressed my first proper post in September, but thanks to you and a few others of a similarly engaging mindset, I am now well and truly hooked. x

Charles I wasn’t going to write because I don’t want to cause you more eye strain, but I had to – had to because you’re such a gentleman. I don’t know anyone else who’s been FP who replies to each and every comment. And even when you were stuck there for days and days you still carried on replying… And in the middle of the week of being George Clooney’s girlfriend [- love that thelaughingmom – ] you write a post telling us about all the people who left you messages – so you didn’t just say “thanks for writing” to every person who wrote but you went to all their blogs and really read their words! No wonder you feel as if
“your wrists are going to fall off and your eyes feel as though I’ve been staring directly into the sun for about a week and a half.”

When I first perused your comments and saw that you replied to every single one I was so touched by your thoughfulness, I don’t think most people expect replies when commenting of FP’s, that we each got one from you says a lot about the kind of person you are.

Dude, you’re still there as of this morning! But it WAS a brilliant post; one I shared with friends, as well.

I have been in your shoes and have worked tirelessly to keep up with the flood of comments. I was FP’d on a Friday over the summer and the post stayed up through Tuesday. I was approving comments from the moment I woke up until minutes before going to sleep.

All this being said, I think your blog is fantastic and it’s incredibly nice of you to respond.

Keep up the great work!
P.S. Your observation about turnips is hysterical and apt.

For your post on still being on the Freshly Pressed section, I should say, lucky you! Do you have any steps to be in there? Or is it just writing without expecting? 🙂

Regarding your cartoons, they are simply great – both the drawings and the scripts. It is one of the things what drives me to your blog. And your writing has started to become an inspiration to me. Nicely written, well structured and interestingly presented. What else do you want in the things you are reading.

Yes, everyone needs a share of attention – and a guidance, too. Not a blatant marketing comment this is, but if you have got time from replying to the comments, do go through my blog and let me know how you think it is going – as I am quite new in it.

It’s wonderful that you can handle this overwhelming experience with humor! I love the “they’re all the same book” cartoon – am also guilty of buying the same book twice, more often than I care to admit. Planning on checking out the blogs you highlighted…

Charles, Only you would turn being Freshly Pressed into a selfless act of kindness. I discovered a few of those blogs from your comments sections lately, and you are right. They are great. What a nice way to accept your Versatile Blogger award. 🙂

“I have a well-developed sense of when I’m being annoying.” This line is why I love your writing! You make me laugh with the very first line.

Hey, I just noticed the commenter above me quoted the same line. I bet if I read through all the above comments I’d see that more people quoted that line too. But who has time to read through 700 comments? 😉

You can tell you’ve been at this answering-game too long, when you start wondering if the two dots were really two dots, or “a single dot and a period.”

Here. I’ll save you some trouble. I’ll reply to my own comment so you can get a break:

Charles, look at it this way…this is not about you, it is about your blog. Do you know that whenever I’m in distress, (which has been rather too often for my liking in the past two months or so) I come and lurk on your blog, and go away mostly cheered up?

I’ve tweeted this blog, put it on Facebook, and recently recommended it on my blog as my top fave of all time (http://ow.ly/78Xxc). That is not entirely to promote you as a person, (though that is a huge part of it, because you’ve become my friend through this blog), but because this blog is so ‘needed’— everyone can do with a chuckle or a few guffaws every now and then, coupled with such a wonderful perspective of life and living.

I like that this Freshly Pressed thingie is doing what I’ve been wanting to do for very long, give more people access to your writing.

I know part of the reason why your blog is so charming is because of your willingness to interact, and that is what has you stressed right now…but I think some part of you ought to be happy and really pleased with yourself, not with the number of comments you’re receiving, but with the fact that you’ve now given genuine Joy to so many more people.

How many of us bloggers can say that?

Hugs from across the seas, and as they say with everything else, this too shall pass! 🙂

Your sweetness is surpassed only by your writing ability (or maybe it’s the other way around). And I know for a fact that your blog and your book have given joy to many people. I look forward to your next letter.

Fantastic writing! I loved your post on FP, too. I’m writing a very generic response so that you won’t have to put much time into responding to it. If you write back anything more than simply “thanks,” I will feel disappointed since I’m trying to help you out here 🙂

Sorry to disappoint you, Angie, but I have to tell you how much I appreciate your kind words, and the fact that you’ve taken the time to read a few of my posts. I also wanted to say that I think your blog is incredibly good. I just left a comment on your post about Halloween candy.

After reading some of your posts, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be sitting next to you on a long-distance bus ride through Palookaville, unless I was well-medicated in advance. But the saving grace is that I’m pretty sure you’d never be caught dead riding in a Greyhound through Palookaville and sitting next to a passenger like myself, unless you were desperate for more blog material.

Your writing is addictive. Thanks for the blog and congrats on being Freshly Pressed (again).

Charles, you deserve to be Freshly Pressed and the second time around Stylish Blogger or Versitile or whatever. I have wondered how they pick Freshly Pressed and I did notice that they didn’t change the press for a long time the week you were up there. And, I’ve often wondered how in the world people keep up with all those responses. That is why, I suppose, there are people who make a profession out of blogging. And spare yourself the response to this response. I’ll keep coming back for more posts.

Next time you get the same panic attack, either get over it or stop being YOU! No wonder why everyone loves you, you’re just too good. And though the FP page got updated (darn!) I’m dying to see you back there. Keep up the great work Charles. It really is a treat to read your posts.

Thanks for the perspective on being Freshly Pressed. When I commented on your other post you had a mere 800 comments and quite frankly I can’t imagine the stress of responding to them all. You are either a very courteous or a very obsessed man to even try. Selfishly I’m enjoying the blog and hope you are able to find time to write a new entry or two.

I’m not at all sure how Freshly Pressed posts get chosen. I assumed it was just a random selection, followed by some kind of screening process to ensure the writing and images aren’t offensive or sloppy. The extended stay was definitely a fluke.

At first I didn’t understand what did you meant with an insanely wealthy man whining about not having enough room to store its wealth — until I reread the blog homepage. Yeah, with 831 comments, well I hope I can magically disappear into thin air so that the comments flood wouldn’t buried me alive! I’m glad I’ve been someone who comments your FP post while the comments still under 150 something XD

But as expected, even not on FP, this post, and any other posts of yours, always as exhilarating, quality, thoughtful, and sometimes, a little bit dramatic too. If your blog can be classified into movie genre, I would be tag you under drama comedy, one of my favorite movie genre. 🙂 keep up the good work!

Sorry I’m so late to the party. I’m so glad to see you featured and you are soooo deserving of all the attention as you are so talented in how you can tell a story and SO FUNNY! I completely understand why you are giving up the baseball career. By 40 who has the patience to deal with the drama of the paparazzi and autographs? Do you really want them following you around at Walmart to see what you are picking out in the underwear section only to wake up in the AM and see it on the front of STAR magazine? Oh maybe that is happening now after the pressing. Well that is the perfect opportunity to use the speech, so take full advantage!

I was wondering — and absolutely in envious amazement at the fact that you were answering EVERY one of your comments … for crying out loud, Charles, you’re making us other slacker bloggers really look bad! I am SO proud of you for getting on Freshly Pressed — and who better??

Well, as much as I hate to add to your inbox, your blog, and particularly this post, was recommended to me by soul dipper.wordpress as something I might be interested in. I was recently chosen for fresh pressed myself and I was so grateful and then suddenly so overwhelmed. First of all, I can’t seem to respond fast enough. I feel ungrateful if I don’t. I haven’t had a moment to check out anyone else’s site, and now I’m feeling spazzed for my next post. I have all these new followers now, for God sakes don’t be pedantic, or trivial or boring! Anyway, thank you for your thoughts. Your style is terrific and I can see why you were chosen not once, but twice in one year. I’ll work on creating the same champagne problem.
All the best, Leigh